In February, 2003 the New York City Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers formed the Center for Social Work Policy and Practice. Given the social work profession’s involvement in addressing a broad array of social problems and its working through many types of institutions, the Chapter’s Board of Directors created the Center to help the organization focus its activities.
The mission of the Center is stated as follows: “to understand and advance the state of social work policy and practice on behalf of the communities we serve.”
Among the first tasks of the Center was to come to understand what social workers in New York City actually do, in their employment in organizations, large in small, throughout the five boroughs. The articles written here, are one of the first tangible products of the Center. They reflect a systematic approach to learning from social workers themselves how they are making a difference and determining to what extent professional social work may be considered a matter of life and death to the residents of the City.
NASW-NYC itself is the largest association of professional social workers in New York City, representing over 10,000 members. Nationally, NASW represents over 150,000 social workers.
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